Discord, an innovative communication platform, is primarily utilized by gaming communities, yet its reach extends to many sectors. Ever since its launch, this popular communication platform has attracted a large user base.
And while there have been many hiccups along the way due to its high demand, it has still managed to pit itself against the best apps for online communication.
But don’t just take our word for it. Below are some hard data and facts that are good indicators of the app’s video, voice, and text communication services.
Discord History & Growth With Time
Discord was born in 2015 as a newcomer to the digital communication scene, challenging well-entrenched apps like Skype and TeamSpeak. These predecessors had their limitations, and Discord intelligently capitalized on those weaknesses. However, the resulting surge in traffic overwhelmed Discord’s infrastructure, leading to server crashes.
The Rise Of Discord
The mastermind behind Discord, Jason Citron, leveraged the experience and wealth gathered from the $100 million acquisition of his previous venture, OpenFeint, to build Discord. Rather than simply being a text or audio chat platform, Discord introduced the concept of servers – dedicated digital spaces for communities focused on specific games.
This meant users no longer needed to search through forums or Reddit; they could find what they needed in one place. The server feature became a hit, and admins soon enhanced their servers with sub-channels for focused discussions.
More Than A Platform For Gaming
While gaming was its initial focus, Discord became a multi-purpose communication tool. In the face of this evolution, there are now more than 19 million active servers, many of which are not gaming-centric. The team behind Discord has been actively seeking to compete with platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams, showing its ambition to broaden its horizons.
Controversies
Discord has not been without controversy. In 2017, it was discovered that white supremacists were using a private server to plan the Charlottesville, Virginia, rally. This led to Discord implementing shadow bans and adding verification and bot-moderation tools to control such activities.
Since its launch, the platform has continually expanded its features, introducing video calling and screen sharing in 2017. It has also integrated with other popular platforms like Twitch, Spotify, and Xbox Live.
Monetization Challenges
Discord’s rise occurred alongside the boom in e-sports, aided by its adoption by popular Twitch streamers. Despite its rapid growth, monetization remained a challenge. Early attempts included selling digital stickers and merchandise, but these ventures proved insufficient.
So in 2018 Discord launched a games storefront offering a curated set of games, and a subscription service, Discord Nitro, providing additional perks to subscribers.
However, the Nitro games catalog did not generate expected returns and was discontinued. Yet, Discord remains a resilient player in the digital communication arena.
Most Active Communication Tool
The pandemic-induced lockdowns further boosted its usage, with the company announcing over 140 million monthly active users and a peak of 10.6 million concurrent users. Discord’s transition from a “Chat for Gamers” to a “Chat for Communities and Friends” indicates its commitment to diversifying its user base.
Discord Key Statistics
- Discord had 563 million total registered users in 2023.
- The global monthly active users of Discord are near 150 million.
- Discord Nitro is the main source of its revenue.
- Discord secured a total of $1B in aggregate funding across 16 rounds. (Source: Crunchbase)
Discord Registered Users 2017-2023
| Year | Registered Users | Increase |
| 2023 | 563 million users | 23.46% |
| 2022 | 456 million users | 23.24% |
| 2021 | 370 million users | 23.33% |
| 2020 | 300 million users | 20.00% |
| 2019 | 250 million users | 25.00% |
| 2018 | 200 million users | 122.22% |
| 2017 | 90 million users | – |
Source: Statista
Discord Monthly Active Users
| Year | MAU |
| 2023 | 154 million |
| 2022 | 152 million |
| 2021 | 150 million |
| 2020 | 100 million |
Source: Statista
Which Countries Are Most Active In Using Discord?
| Country | Visitors Per Month |
| USA | 228.8 million |
| Brazil | 19.1 million visitors |
| France | 17.8 million visitors |
| U.K | 16.9 million visitors |
| Germany | 14.8 million visitors |
Source: Statista
Discord Usage By Device
Discord is mostly used on desktops; however, with the increase in smartphone use, a good number of people are using Discord on their mobiles as well.
| Country | All Users | Desktop | Mobile |
| USA | 219.8 million | 65.24% | 34.76% |
| Brazil | 101.5 million | 90.01% | 9.99% |
| U.K | 29.6 million | 67.11% | 32.89% |
| India | 29.2 million | 43.72% | 56.28% |
| Germany | 28.1 million | 56.86% | 43.14% |
Source: SEMrush
How Much Time On Average People Spend On Discord?
Many companies have started using Discord for communication after COVID-19 outbreak. The best part of Discord is that unlike other tools, this one doesn’t track your activities.
| Period | Time Spend on Average |
| Every Day | 24 minutes |
| Every Month | 12 hours |
| Yearly | 144 hours |
Global Discord Message Volume Per Day
Image Source: Statista
In 2018 and 2020, Discord saw a huge boost in daily messages. One reason for its growth in 2018 was because of online multiplayer FPS games where active communication was required and built-in voice communication was buggy.
2020 marked the year of COVID, and since many switched to online communication for work, Discord was one of the most stable and free platforms to use.
| Year | Daily Exchanged Messages |
| 2022 | 4 billion daily messages |
| 2021 | 3 billion daily messages |
| 2020 | 2 billion daily messages |
| 2019 | 1 billion daily messages |
| 2018 | 850 million daily messages |
| 2017 | 120 million daily messages |
| 2016 | 100 million daily messages |
Source: Statista
Global Discord Message Volume Per Year
If you think daily message volume is astonishing, wait until you see how many messages are shared each year on Discord.
| Year | Messages |
| 2022 | 1.46 trillion messages |
| 2021 | 1.09 trillion messages |
| 2020 | 730 billion messages |
| 2019 | 365 billion messages |
| 2018 | 310 billion messages |
| 2017 | 43.8 billion messages |
| 2016 | 36.5 billion messages |
Discord User Demographics
More than 67% of users of Discord are male. This might feel like a huge gender gap, but in the coming years, it will eventually be reduced as more and more females have started using Discord.
Source: Statista
Discord Users By Age
Image Source: Similarweb
Since Discord usage is most active among gamers, ~69% of users are between 18-34 years of age.
| Age Group | Share |
| 18-24 | 36.55% |
| 25-34 | 32.1% |
| 35-44 | 14.96% |
| 45-54 | 8.26% |
| 55-64 | 4.9% |
| 65+ | 3.23% |
Source: Similarweb
Highest Discord App Downloads – Country Based
The USA is the most active country for Discord visitors and has the highest number of Discord downloads.
| Country | Discord Download Percentage |
| USA | 25% |
| Brazil | 7% |
| Russia | 5% |
| India | 5% |
| United Kingdom | 5% |
| Others | 53% |
Source: Statista
Discord Supported OS
This is one communication app you’ll find on almost every platform, including Linux. You can find a dedicated Discord app on Android, iOS, iPad OS, Windows, Linux, and MacOS.
Discord Valuation
| Year | Valuation |
| 2023 | $15 billion |
| 2022 | $10 billion |
| 2021 | $14.7 billion |
| 2020 | $7.3 billion |
| 2019 | $2.5 billion |
| 2018 | $2.05 billion |
Source: Statista
Discord Revenue Using Nitro
| Year | Revenue Generated |
| 2023 | $207 million |
| 2022 | $208 million |
| 2021 | $173 million |
| 2020 | $120 million |
| 2019 | $73 million |
Source: Statista
Discord Revenue Using Other Sources
Discord doesn’t solely rely on Nitro to earn money; it also utilizes Discord Store, in-app purchases, ticket sales, and distribution fees from the Discord Store to make revenue.
| Year | Valuation |
| 2022 | $220 million |
| 2021 | $200 million |
| 2020 | $130 million |
| 2019 | $45 million |
| 2018 | $30 million |
| 2017 | $10 million |
| 2016 | $5 million |
Discord Revenue (Nitro + Other Sources Combined)
The revenue of Discord for the years 2019-2022 is calculated using Discord’s Nitro sales and revenue from the other benefits. The total revenue of 2023 is yet to be revealed by Discord.
| Year | Valuation |
| 2022 | $428 million |
| 2021 | $373 million |
| 2020 | $250 million |
| 2019 | $115 million |
Discord Funding
Discord has raised a total of ~$1B in funding over 16 rounds. Their latest major funding was in September 2021, a Series H Round.
| Date Announced | Transaction Name | Money Raised | Lead Investors | Pre-Money Valuation |
| Sep 2021 | Series H – Discord | $600M | Dragoneer Investment Group | $14.5B |
| Jun 2020 | Series G | $100M | Index Ventures | $3.4B |
| Dec 2018 | Series F | $150M | Greenoaks Capital | $1.9B |
| Apr 2018 | Series E | $50M | Tencent | $1.6B |
| Jan 2017 | Series D | $50M | Index Ventures | $725M |
| Jan 2016 | Series C | $20M | Greylock, Spark Capital | |
| Feb 2015 | Series B | ? | 9+ Program, Benchmark, Tencent | |
| Nov 2013 | Series A | $8.2M | Benchmark | |
| Jul 20212 | Seed | $1.1M | Accel, General Catalyst, Ridge Ventures |
Source: CrunchBase
Discord Acquisitions
Discord made its last acquisition in 2023, bringing new features to this platform.
| Announced Date | Acquiree Name |
| Jan 2023 | Gas |
| Jul 2021 | Sentropy Technologies |
| Jun 2021 | Ubiquity6 |
Source: CrunchBase
Top 10 Discord Gaming Servers
Discord has thousands of dedicated servers for games where players all across the world can communicate and share their tips and tricks. Midjourney and OpenAI are two of the most popular non-gaming servers on Discord as of the date of writing this article.
| Server Name | Server Description | Number of Members |
| Blox Fruits | Community about a game within Roblox | 1 million members |
| Valorant | Sharing news, views, and updates about Valorant | 0.99 million members |
| Genshin Impact Official | The official server of Genshin Impact | 0.98 million members |
| Roblox | The official server of Roblox game | 0.97 million members |
| All-Star | Discord official server for All-star tower defense game | 0.84 million members |
| Apex Legend | All news and update about Apex Legend | 0.76 million members |
| King Legacy | Server for the people who play and enjoy King Legacy | 0.73 million members |
| E-Girl Paradise | A server made to connect people around the world | 0.73 million members |
| Grand Quest Games | Another server for one of the Roblox games | 0.71 million members |
| Axie Infinity | Community for Axie Infinity to share thoughts and tips | 0.65 million members |
Source: Statista
Discord Employees
The employee growth at Discord has been steady since its inception, and we can see almost a double increase in its employee numbers since 2016.
| Year | Number of Employees |
| 2023 | 1,200 employees |
| 2022 | 1,000 employees |
| 2021 | 920 employees |
| 2020 | 800 employees |
| 2019 | 750 employees |
| 2018 | 710 employees |
| 2017 | 700 employees |
| 2016 | 650 employees |
Source: LinkedIn, ITGearhead
Discord Traffic Analysis
Image Source: Similar Web
Since Discord is famous, people don’t really search for it on Google, Bing, or other search engines. In some cases, users share a server link, increasing the traffic from references. The surprising part is that Discord doesn’t have to do any paid marketing campaigns, which is why it doesn’t have any traffic from paid clicks or searches.
| Traffic Source | Share |
| Direct | 81% |
| Referral | 8% |
| Organic Search | 5% |
| Paid Search | 0% |
| Social | 5% |
| 1% | |
| Display | 0.2% |
Source: Similar Web
Discord Social Media Traffic Sources
Image Source: Similar Web
Here is the thing: since many popular communities have servers on Discord, you’ll see their links on all popular social media platforms, increasing Discord traffic and helping people reach a wider audience.
| Traffic Sources | Share |
| YouTube | 58.65% |
| 13.42% | |
| 12.50% | |
| 6.63% | |
| 2.42% | |
| Others | 6.39% |
Source: Similar Web
Top 5 Discord Competitors & Alternatives
Slack
Slack is a top competitor for Discord, particularly in the corporate world. This platform is designed for team collaboration and communication, featuring text, voice, and video chat options, file sharing, and integrations with various business applications such as Google Drive, Trello, and GitHub. Slack has been praised for its sleek design and robust search capabilities, which make it easy to find conversations and files.
TeamSpeak
A veteran in the field of voice communication, TeamSpeak offers a solid alternative to Discord. It is equipped with a high-quality voice chat feature that is customizable to your team’s requirements. Moreover, it is efficient and reliable, with a secure system that protects user data.
Skype
A household name in online communication, Skype is a viable alternative to Discord. It provides voice and video calling, direct and group messaging, and file sharing. Although it lacks the community server feature of Discord, Skype’s familiarity and accessibility make it a decent option for straightforward communication needs.
Mumble
Mumble is a free and open-source option renowned for its low-latency voice chat feature. It is a great alternative for those who seek an uncomplicated and minimalist design. Mumble supports multiple platforms and provides positional audio, which can help to create immersive game environments by simulating the direction from which the sound comes.
Hangouts Chat And Hangouts Meet
Part of Google’s productivity suite, Hangouts is a great alternative for those already embedded in the Google ecosystem. Hangouts Chat caters to messaging needs, while Hangouts Meet is great for video conferences. These tools can cater to personal and professional needs integrated with other Google services.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. I’m New To Discord And Found Some Discordant Noise When I Join Calls. Is There A Way To Fix This Issue?
Yes, unpleasant clashing sounds while on a Discord voice call can sometimes be an issue due to connectivity problems or if too many people are speaking at the same time. To fix this, you can try adjusting the voice channel’s settings or asking members to use push-to-talk. In some instances, disconnecting and reconnecting may help too. Make sure to also update your Discord app to the latest version on your phone or computer.
2. What Are Some Ways To Interact And Connect With Others On Discord Servers?
Discord provides many ways to interact with others. For instance, you can engage in group chats, access voice channels for real-time conversations, or join a video call and screen share during a gaming session or a drawing session.
You can also send emojis, GIFs, and photos to express yourself. Many servers have dedicated rooms for different topics, like a tech room for developer discussions or a gaming room for League of Legends fandom. It’s all about finding the right community for you.
3. How Does Discord Ensure The Safety Of Its Users? How Do They Handle Clashing Identities Or Unpleasant Interactions?
Safety is paramount on Discord. Each server usually has moderators to oversee the content and interactions among users. If someone’s behavior is disturbing the harmony of the community, they can be warned or even removed. Discord also has built-in features for user safety.
For example, you can block a person who’s causing an issue. The platform also has robust safety settings, allowing you to control who can send you direct messages or friend requests. In terms of identity, you’re free to choose a username that represents you. However, impersonating someone else or creating a false identity is against Discord’s rules.
4. Can I Use Discord For More Than Just Gaming Chats? Can I Use It Like Zoom For School Or Club Meetings, For Example?
Absolutely! While Discord was originally designed with gamers in mind, it has evolved into a versatile communication tool. It is now used by a wide range of communities, not just gaming groups. You can create a server for your school club, for instance, and have different channels for different topics or projects. You can also conduct voice calls or video meetings, similar to Zoom.
It also offers the option to share your screen, which can be handy during discussions or presentations. Plus, with Discord’s update moments, you can stay informed about the latest features and improvements.
Wrapping Up
Discord’s robust growth, with over 563 million users, attests to its popularity and functionality. Its innovative blend of text, voice, and video chat features and its unique community server concept appeal to a broad audience. Despite initial teething issues and some controversies, Discord has effectively carved a niche for itself, transforming from a gamer-focused app to a versatile communication tool for many communities and friends.
